Community Planning for Solar: Toolkit Overview

Technical Report · Fri Jun 28 04:00:00 EDT 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2394638· OSTI ID:2394638

Breger, Dwayne ^[1]; Dowling, Zara ^[1]; Strong, River ^[1]; Bates, Alison ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)
2. Colby College, Waterville, ME (United States)

UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) and its partners have designed the Community Planning for Solar Toolkit to help municipalities in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast proactively plan for solar PV development in their communities. The tools and processes are designed with rural and suburban communities in mind, though some of the tools may also apply to urban settings. Community Planning for Solar empowers community residents and officials to take the lead in solar development by providing communities with the resources that can help them to: (1) Identify and prioritize locations in the community for solar development; (2) Evaluate various solar financing options and provide guidance on community benefits that best match community goals and needs; (3) Assess their community's unique resources, solar development options, goals, and preferences regarding solar development; (4)Develop a Community Solar Action Plan.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2394638
• Report Number(s): NREL/SR--7A40-90023; MainId:91801; UUID:a0f7f479-79cf-4d3e-ac43-0fd598544aa1; MainAdminId:72989
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Massachusetts
PV siting
community
education
financing
outreach
ownership
rural
siting
solar photovoltaics